In the morning, the GM of the team presumably closest to acquiring him from the Vancouver Canucks was fired. That GM, Brian Burke, was in turn replaced by the guy who acquired him for the Canucks. That'd be Dave Nonis, who picked up the All-Star goalie for spare parts from the Florida Panthers in 2006.

One widespread bit of speculation in the immediate wake of Burke's dismissal: His reticence to pull the trigger on a Luongo deal, and the desire of Toronto's new corporate conglomerate ownership group to add a marquee goalie, contributed to his demise.

Either way, there's no sign that the Leafs-Canucks talks are any hotter than they were throughout the lockout.

Then, both James Duthie of TSN and SI's Adrian Dater echoed an earlier report by TVA broadcaster Enrico Ciccone: The Flyers, they of the Ilya Bryzgalov Megacontract And Eventual Amnesty Waiver, are interested in trading for Luongo, who has eight seasons and more than $47 million left on his contract, as well as a no-trade clause.

Now, that's an easy enough link to make. The Flyers are always in the middle of trade talk, and they've actually followed through on some ridiculous ones. Luongo, meanwhile, likely wants to land with a Cup contender, and the Flyers qualify.

For whatever it's worth, Philadelphia GM Paul Holmgren denied the rumors on Wednesday night, telling the Philadelphia Daily News, "That made me chuckle. Safe to say they aren't true. They have no basis or merit."

If the Flyers were to make a run at Luongo, they'd need to trim some cap space. One potential way to do that: send the Canucks one of the five defensemen on their roster with a cap hit of $3.5 million or more. Then, alternate between Bryzgalov (at times brutal in his first season with the Flyers) and Luongo, hope you win a Cup, and waive one of them under the new CBA's amnesty provision after the season.